SHASTA COUNTY

Cathy Darling Allen, County Clerk/Registrar of Voters

Joanna Francescut, Assistant County Clerk/Registrar of Voters
County Clerk/Elections Department / www.elections.co.shasta.ca.us
1643 Market St., Redding, CA 96001 / PO Box 990880, Redding, CA 96099-0880
Phone: 530-225-5730 / FAX: 530-225-5454 / CA Relay Service: 711 or 800-735-2922

March 27, 2023

Honorable Kevin Crye
Honorable Tim Garman
Honorable Mary Rickert
Honorable Patrick Jones, Chair
Honorable Chris Kelstrom
Re: Voting Systems and Manual Tally in Shasta County
All:
I write to you today as the chief election official of the County of Shasta. Having served in
this role since 2004 and having been duly elected five times by the voters of this county, it
is right and fitting that I inform you, in writing, of the potential consequences of the recent
actions taken by the Board.
As you all are aware, on January 24, 2023, the Board voted to cancel the county’s contract
with Dominion Voting Systems. On February 28, 2023, my office, the County Clerk &
Election Department, brought forward an agenda item for the Board to select a certified
voting system or vote to rescind the cancellation of the Dominion lease agreement. The
Board Chair attempted to remove the voting system item during agenda preparation, and,
when that was unsuccessful, added an item to the agenda to explore hand counting (a
“manual tally”) of paper ballots. That item moved forward; the Board took no action to
secure a certified system. Additionally, the Chair attempted to alter county administrative
policy to allow the Chair to eliminate any future proposed agenda items for any
reason. This item failed. The Board adjourned without adopting a method to administer the
election, potentially disenfranchising Shasta County voters and, especially, disabled
voters.
At its meeting on March 28, 2023, the Board will take up these two items again. At that
meeting, the Board must reinstate or enter a new voting system contract (March 28, 2023
agenda item R6). We recommend that the Board either take no action on March 28, 2023
agenda item R7 or adopt the Staff proposed policy. But if the Board instead opts for a full
manual tally, it must plan to provide at a minimum the $1,651,209.68 and 1300 staff
members and necessary to implement a full manual tally.
The Board Must Reinstate or Enter a Voting System Contract
It is imperative that the voters of Shasta County continue to enjoy the right of franchise,
and that elections in Shasta County continue to be performed with transparency, accuracy,
efficiency and with a servant’s heart. That is the job I was elected to do, and I intend to
continue doing it.
At the upcoming meeting of the Shasta County Board of Supervisors, on March 28, 2023, we
expect to discuss these same issues again. In advance of this meeting, I and several other
county staff members met with Chair Jones and Supervisor Crye as a working group on
March 13, 15, 20 and 27, 2023 in an attempt to reach a resolution that will protect the
voting rights of Shasta County voters. At the meeting held on March 15, 2023, Susan
Lapsley, the Deputy Secretary of State, reviewed a long list of federal and state laws that
the Board could violate by not selecting a certified voting system.
In summary, the statutes require that all California voters be able to cast a ballot privately
and independently. A voting system that includes technology is the only way available to
comply with those laws.
If the Board Orders a Full Manual Tally, It Must Provide the Resources to Do So
My office has also diligently explored the available options and necessary resources for
manual tally; given the timelines and complexity, we have been forced to put aside much
our regular work to do so. We discussed these options as part of the working group’s March
13, 15, 20 and 27, 2023 meetings. The attached document summarizes our findings. We
conclude that it would cost a minimum of $1,651,209.68 and require the addition of 1300
county staff members to implement a full manual tally.
On March 13, 2023, Supervisor Crye invited Linda Rantz to speak with our working group.
Rantz supports manual tallying of paper ballots and claims that her method of manually
tally could be easily adopted by Shasta County. This is not true. Rantz’s plan assumes a
materially different legal and factual background than the one we face in Shasta County. In
fact, a full manual tally ‘system’ is not currently in use in any other California jurisdiction. In
addition, as the Deputy Secretary of State indicated at our meetings, the Secretary of State
is considering draft regulations that would affect the legality of any manual tally plan. In
contrast to Rantz’s plan, the document attached provides a realistic estimate of the
resources required to implement a legal full manual tally in Shasta County.
The development and implementation of such an entirely new, untested, unproven program
would be extremely difficult. It would require the County to develop polices and
processes from the ground up to allow for all the complexities of ballot processing and
tally. This includes but is not limited to developing processes for ballot examination and
duplication, the tally itself, recording and aggregating election results by hand, allowing for
meaningful observation, transportation, onboarding the hundreds of required temporary
staff, adjudication of ballots and auditing the manual tally for accuracy.
As a result of these complexities, we do not recommend that the Board pursue a full
manual tally. Instead, we recommend that the Board either take no action on this item or
adopt the Staff Recommendation provided in connection with March 28, 2023 agenda item
R7. As discussed in the attached document, this path secures the advantages of a manual
tally without the complexity, delay, and errors inherent in a full manual tally. However, if the
Board does not adopt our recommendations, it must provide the necessary resources—at
least $1,651,209.68 and 1300 new staff—immediately so that the Election Department can
implement preparation for a full manual tally.
The Board Must Act on Both Items by March 28, 2023
Beyond these practical risks and limitations, there are several deadlines that are rapidly
approaching that, if missed, could put future elections at risk, and could cause Shasta
County voters to be disenfranchised.
As I stated in the meeting with both Supervisor Jones and Crye on March 15, 2023, if an
election is called for August 29, 2023, the last date for the Board to act is March 28, 2023.
This is the date by which the Board must (1) reinstate or enter a new voting system contract
(March 28, 2023 agenda item R6); or (2) plan to provide the resources necessary to
implement a full manual tally, if the Board decides to pursue that path (adding manual tally
components as is contemplated by March 28, 2023 agenda item R7). Failing to act on March
28, 2023 with a potential August 29, 2023 election puts that election at risk, and the
County would then be in jeopardy of disenfranchising voters. And even if there is no special
election in August 2023, there may well be a special election called on the next regular
election date, November 7, 2023. If the Board intends to request a full manual tally for that
election, the Elections Department needs to know now, in order to plan. And the last date
that the Board could approve a voting system agreement to comply with California and
federal law for that election is May 9, 2023.
I hope and believe that that you all want to serve our collective constituents as I do. As you
know, the position of clerk, ex officio registrar of voters, is a designated, elected office
under state law. Cal. Gov’t Code §§ 24000 subdiv. (c); 24009; 26802. In this role, I am
“charged with the duty of conducting an election.” Cal. Elec. Code § 320. While this Board
retains some authority regarding elections within the County, that authority is “[s]ubject to
the provisions of the Elections Code.” Cal. Elec. Code § 25201. And that Code establishes
numerous duties for me, as the elected clerk, beginning with the framing of the ballots
through the final tally and canvass of election results. I take my statutory responsibility
seriously. Creating a new voting system from scratch, that likely will not comply with state
law, undermines my ability to perform those statutory responsibilities, intruding on my
position as a duly elected Shasta County official. As a five-time elected official, with nearly
20 years of experience, I urge the Board to select a certified voting system.
Please carefully consider your decisions and understand that while my office is full of
extremely competent and prepared professionals, even we cannot perform miracles. We
need the resources and time required to carefully develop procedures to ensure no Shasta
County voter is disenfranchised. If the county misses the deadlines contained within this
letter the blame for election failure will rest surely at each of your feet.

Regards,

Cathy Darling Allen

Shasta County Clerk/Registrar of Voters